The Pit Shark Belt Squat at SMARTER Team Training allows us to train the lower body without loading the spine. The squat movement can be progressively overloaded to maximize safety and productivity. From squats to lunges, deadlifts to RDL, calf training and more can be accomplished with this piece of equipment.

To ramp up the intensity, add the Band Tensioner to any of your sets during training. You can also change the lever arm to make adapting a set to accommodate for strength throughout an entire workout. This piece from Pit Shark is a favorite with many who train with us.

Coach Taylor’s go to exercise…

“Starting relatively light on the Pit Shark Belt Squat is an attention getter. Typically, the trainee knows something creative is coming at that point. Try doing four reps and then adding a 25 or a 45-pound plate. With no rest, complete four more reps and repeat. How heavy can you get with good reps? The goal is to reach muscular fatigue somewhere in the 15-20 rep range when this is done correctly.”– Rob Taylor, Jr., Founder and Owner of SMARTER Team Training

Mike changes his training up with…

“The Pit Shark platforms are a simple and fantastic way to use accommodating resistance to your advantage. When performing sets with the goal of maximum force production we like to use this superset with our athletes. In regard to accommodating resistance we will band load both the squat and the pull with about 30 to 45% of a 1RM in weight, and 20 to 30% of the 1RM in band load.

Our athletes will begin by performing 4 reps of Speed Squats, followed by 30 seconds of rest and 4 reps of Speed Pulls. We like to perform 8 rounds of this super set, which should only take about 10 minutes for a complete lower body maximum force production workout.” – Mike Whitman, Director of Training.

Alex keeps it creative with…

“The Pit Shark Belt Squat is an ideal piece of equipment for training young, old, injured, etc. athletes/clients because it does not load the spine and has handles for support – in that regard it is far superior to any standard barbell back squat. However, it is also an incredibly popular piece of equipment with our biggest and strongest athletes, who sometimes squat 1000+ lbs. on this piece of equipment. With this demographic, I like heavy ascending triples with a competition aspect between athletes. Start with 50% of the athlete’s 1RM and complete 3 repetitions – deep squats with a full range of motion. Add 45 lbs. and do 3 more (no rest between the triples). This continues until the athlete cannot cannot complete another rep with perfect form. Then, strip the weight to the starting number, and complete reps to failure once again. This is a perfect protocol for session with multiple big, strong athletes. Competition is who can get to the highest weight and also who can complete the most reps at the end.” – Alex Walsh, Performance Coach

Riley enjoys this protocol the most…

“One simple way to change up the protocol on the Pit Shark Squat is to use a band providing ‘accommodating resistance’. This means that at the top of the squat the weight will be increased due to the band being stretched out. Use a band and a weight that you can do around 20 times, performing 8 sets of 4 reps starting each set every 45 seconds. Just another way to change up your training.” – Riley Oharah, Former Performance Coach